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Smartskinning


Ilidrake

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Been working on my newest model with the TSM2 rig and I'm having trouble getting smartskin to work with the hips. I've added fanbones to the area but would like to use smartskin to smooth out the trouble CPs. I've targeted the upper leg bone but when the smartskin window opnes and I attempt to manipulate the bone nothing happens, I can't move it. Sometimes AM crashes when I try this. Anyone got any pointers on smartskinning with this rig?

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You should smartskin the Geometry bones, not the Control bones. Especially with TSM. It has been a few years since I rigged a model with TSM, but from memory .... it is easiest to go back to a version of your model where you placed all the base (geometry) bones and assigned control points, but *before* you installed the control rig. Then smart skin the geometry bones. *Then* install the control rig.

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  • Hash Fellow

Yes. Each smartskin is based on one bone's rotation so it's easy to do them before you run TSMRigger while all the geometry bones are still visible. This is also true of CP weighting and fan boning which you should do before you run Rigger. This avoids attaching fan bones or CPs to control bones.

 

There's no case where you need the full TSM rig running to test out the rotation of one bone

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There are situations where I have had to go in and build a modified version of something rigged in TSM, without access to the original.... You can go in and unhide those geometry bones, turn off the TSM constraints, and still go in and build fan bones, do smartskins, etc...

 

The best way (IMHO) to smartskins, is to work in an action testing the movement, and switch back and forth between a smartskins relationship--since this isn't intuitive from just saying it, there is a detailed tutorial on my YouTube channel that is worth checking-out...

 

Since you are rigging from scratch, definately build your fan bones and do the smartskins before you run the rigger.

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I am curious...Did/does CP weighting not work well with the TSM geometry bones?

 

Works great. TSM Geometry bones are plain old bones like all others.

 

As I would have expected. So I am wondering why the need (or preference?) to use fan bones or smartskins? As a final tweak?

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As I would have expected. So I am wondering why the need (or preference?) to use fan bones or smartskins? As a final tweak?

 

Not a preference really... each method is best for certain needs.

 

CP weighting... for joints that don't bend much or clouds of CPs that are weighted all differently

Fan bones... for groups of CPs that all move together like the middle ring of an elbow.

SmartSkin... any motion not easily obtained by the above two.

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As I would have expected. So I am wondering why the need (or preference?) to use fan bones or smartskins? As a final tweak?

 

Not a preference really... each method is best for certain needs.

 

CP weighting... for joints that don't bend much or clouds of CPs that are weighted all differently

Fan bones... for groups of CPs that all move together like the middle ring of an elbow.

SmartSkin... any motion not easily obtained by the above two.

 

I weight the middle ring usually 50-50 between the 2 bones that meet there (eg forearm & bicep, thigh & calf) - works beautifully. I find produces better results than a fan bone. The 2 rings on either side of the middle ring I weight 25 -75 depending on which side, depending on how much influence I want. I'm not seeing a need for fan bones at joints anymore. CP weighting seems much more flexible. Maybe a fan bone works better when the pivot needs to be different (having a hard time coming up with an example)

 

Also not seeing much need for smartskins (for controlling geometry movement). Seems awkward.

 

The best use I see for smartskins (now) seems to be for fancy control type user-interfaces, eg with FACE nulls controlling pose sliders, etc. Then it's VERY, very handy.

 

I'm thinking that CP weighting (a later feature development) can now be used in most cases to solve most geometry rigging issues.

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The major reason for a fan bone rather than 50-50 weighting is that it won't collapse at extreme angles.

 

CP weighting is my first gambit in most cases, none-the-less.

 

I've used smartskin mostly to fine tune the deformation of face rigs that are mostly CP weighting and fan bones.

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